# SG St. James Flake



## Jeff10236 (Nov 21, 2010)

I got a chance to try this terrific tobacco thanks to a very generous bomb a little bit back from Jimmy James (User Name). It is my first VaPer. For years I had avoided perique after a bad experience or two when I used to blend my own a bit over a decade ago. I have recently begun delving into perique blends, so far English blends with latakia, and I have been enjoying them. After this tobacco, I look forward to trying more VaPers. 

As usual, this review is my first impression after my first bowl. If anything changes, or I feel I have anything to add after more experience, I will add to this thread. Anyway, on to the review...

Bag note: Earthy and leathery. More leathery, in fact it brings back olfactory memories of when I worked in a shoe store when I was 19 and 20. No, not the nasty feet some people's had (and some feet really stunk), but the earthy, spicy, leathery smell of good quality shoe leather and dyes. I really like that shoe store smell.

I started out with the fold and stuff method, but after prepping the tobacco, I decided to take out my pocket knife and cut it into cubes. I packed it into my MM Legend corn cob pipe.

I went outside in the rain to smoke, so the couple attempts to get it lit may have been the tobacco, but more likely it was the weather. Once lit, it stayed lit (I did relight once, it was lit but I thought it may have been burning a little unevenly and tamping wasn't enough of a fix). Smoking outside I really couldn't get much of a room note, what I did smell just kind of smelled like tobacco.

The flavors? They are a treat with this one. This is a straight VaPer, no casings or toppings that I know of, and I can't really taste anything but a straight tobacco flavor. The perique adds a little peppery spice. The Virginia provides a little sweetness. It also had a nice earthiness to the flavor. While it doesn't really taste like a cigar, it really did provide a very cigar-like experience and flavor to me (pure tobacco, not at all cigarette like, decently medium to full bodied). 

So, my bottom line? If you couldn't tell, I really liked this tobacco. I can't wait to smoke more from the bag Jimmy-James sent me. If SG tobaccos were easier to come by I would be adding some to my cellar (and probably will next time it is released). I definitely will be trying more VaPers as a result of trying this stuff (and to think, two months ago I was still avoiding perique, then I cautiously tried it and it was OK, and now I'm actively going to seek it out). If you can get your hands on some St. James Flake I highly recommend giving it a try! 4.5 out of 5 stars.


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## DSturg369 (Apr 6, 2008)

Great review Jeff! :tu

James busted me with a few flakes of this as well, and now I'm really looking forward to trying this!


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## RJpuffs (Jan 27, 2008)

Good review!

I love St.J's from SG. I love acronyms too. One thing about this blend - the blokes over at SG, when they are actually MAKING more, have a habit of screwing up the proportions. Some tins have been perique bombs, while others have been too mellow. Additionally - some tins were blended with what smells like Latakia - not perique! This is one of my top VaPers, but with this blending roulette, I have not had the courage to pop too many more tins.


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## Jeff10236 (Nov 21, 2010)

RJpuffs said:


> Good review!
> 
> I love St.J's from SG. I love acronyms too. One thing about this blend - the blokes over at SG, when they are actually MAKING more, have a habit of screwing up the proportions. Some tins have been perique bombs, while others have been too mellow. Additionally - some tins were blended with what smells like Latakia - not perique! This is one of my top VaPers, but with this blending roulette, I have not had the courage to pop too many more tins.


I am not familiar enough with perique, owing to over a decade of avoiding it, to be able to say if this is one of those with a lot of perique or one that is a little light. It is unfortunate to hear that they are inconsistent when making this (I guess when you use such old fashioned manufacturing methods as SG is known to use, you lose some consistency). By the time it becomes available and I buy some I should know. I am starting to add VaPers with this very next tobacco order. I have added a tin of Esoterica Dunbar to my current order (Esoterica tobaccos are generally among my favorites), and I may add something else as well (maybe a McClelland since a couple of my favorites are also McC's, though I may go with something else).


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## Jeff10236 (Nov 21, 2010)

OK, smoked some more of it today. This time out of a bigger pipe (my Nording). It tastes every bit as good as I thought yesterday. I think I did get some of the grassy flavors and smells that people sometimes talk about with Virginias, but not too much and it was pleasant. I smoked it in the car so I could smell it more, I found it to be a pretty pure tobacco smell. I did have the windows and sunroof open, but when I met up with my non-smoking friend and he got in the car, he didn't think it smelled very strongly of tobacco (and I finished smoking maybe 5 minutes earlier).

I did notice something this time I didn't before. Does this stuff have a reputation for a decent nic hit, or was that a fluke? At any rate, by the end of the drive to meet my friend (about 35 minutes) I started to notice a little sweating, and a little dizziness. Definitely gave me a bit of a nicotine buzz. I had to stop at a gas station to get some ice tea and get some serious sugar into my system. Other than that, it was very pleasant yet again, and I had more later in the evening (being sure to have a drink with it this time).


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## RJpuffs (Jan 27, 2008)

Jeff10236 said:


> OK, smoked some more of it today. This time out of a bigger pipe (my Nording).
> ...
> I did notice something this time I didn't before. Does this stuff have a reputation for a decent nic hit, or was that a fluke? At any rate, by the end of the drive to meet my friend (about 35 minutes) I started to notice a little sweating, and a little dizziness. Definitely gave me a bit of a nicotine buzz. I had to stop at a gas station to get some ice tea and get some serious sugar into my system. Other than that, it was very pleasant yet again, and I had more later in the evening (being sure to have a drink with it this time).


Bigger pipe, bigger nic dosage :biggrin:


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## Jeff10236 (Nov 21, 2010)

RJpuffs said:


> Bigger pipe, bigger nic dosage :biggrin:


True, but it isn't that large a bowl (on the large side of average) and it was only 1/2 to 3/4 full (I'm still breaking in the Nording).


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## Natedogg (Jun 21, 2010)

I love this stuff but I packed of away for aging. I can't wait to see how it is with age.


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## Zfog (Oct 16, 2010)

I smoked a bowl of this that I got in a sample from Sarge and I thought it was great. I gotta grab some..... when I can find it. lol


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## DSturg369 (Apr 6, 2008)

This stuff could become a regular for me. I've smoked VaPer's when I first started with a pipe and really didn't get into them much. But I haven't tried them in a while and I really liked this blend. I'm sure a year or more in a jar would do this stuff winders. Made my nose tingle though...?? Going on my "to get" list for sure. Thank's James (User Name)!


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